Thursday, 25 October 2012

Adam's School Report

It’s come to pass that Adam Pump has nearly completed
a full year of education so it is time for Adam to receive his annual school
report. Please read through and
add any comments at the end.

Mathematics:

Adam is very strong at mathematics using his
advanced algorithmic skills to calculate bolus amounts and adjustments based on
the magic formulas of carbohydrate and correction ratios. Despite this Adam
sometimes struggles with his binary view of whether his owner (AKA Dave) has
perfect or non-perfect BG levels. To improve in this area Adam could sometimes
use his judgement to decide whether the same correction ratios should be used
at all times. For example if Dave posts a BG of 2.8mmol/L* (50mg/dL) and then records 15g of carbs;
suggesting a small dose of insulin using the Bolus Wizard isn’t always the
cleverest idea.

Adam needs a little improvement in this area.
He’s trying to articulate what he’s thinking but using a very restricted menu
style approach that hides away much useful information. Adam also needs to
consider maybe using different forms of communication for different
situations. Due to the constant
beeping involved in any Dave interaction, Dave chose to replace Adam’s audio
output with vibrations. This is great but it would be useful if Adam could use
different methods at different times of day and for different alerts. For
example if Adam has completed delivering a square wave a small vibration is
appropriate. However if there is an occlusion / blockage at 3am Dave would
appreciate a loud alarm with Inspector Gadget stylee arm to shake him until he
wakes up. Or even just some repetitive beeps.

Geography:

Adam has had an excellent school year with only
a couple of moments that required detention. Most sets have lasted three days with little comfort issues
suggesting they could go longer if just left where they were. Adam did however
have one instance of pure rebellion. Without any warning he threw his tubing at
a nearby moving pram handle and leapt from his wearer’s pocket after detaching
from the skin completely. After this Adam has been much better behaved and
hasn’t suggested a repeat performance. I think we all achieved understanding of
what was acceptable on that day.

History:

Adam is strong with modern history memorising
recent dosage and blood tests. He could try harder in applying his history
knowledge to the current situations and how that might assist his wearer. For
example Adam knows that Dave went low for three Saturday mornings running at
around the same time of day. Using so far unseen initiative Adam could suggest
to Dave, maybe by email, text or vibrate that he needs to tweak his basals the
following week.

PE:

Adam likes to get active and this should be
praised. Dave also likes a run now and again and thanks to a fantastic Spibelt
they work together well to get out and about. The use of Temporary Basal Rates
(TBRs) when exercising is a huge plus over the old regime of injecting and
setting the basal insulin amount once or twice a day. This was proven
fantastically last May with the assistance of Adam’s cousin Colin the CGM to
enable Dave to do a full day of exercise with very little drama along the way.
Well done Adam.

Headteacher’s comments:

Due to a late connection Adam only joined is
in November 2011. Dave had survived the previous 30-odd years with MDS
(multiple daily stabs) and often looked at the technically advanced facilities
of pumps such as Adam with high suspicion of ‘always being connected’. Despite
this delay in being accepted Adam has worked hard to give the control needed to
enable his wearer to live as normal a life as possible. Dave does understand
the drawbacks of Adam needing to be working all the time without fail but Dave
understands that the benefits proven faar outweigh any connections nuisances.

Overall Mark:

B +

Parent’s comments:

Life isn’t perfect and a few hiccups along the
way including the continued struggle with pasta and pizza mean that Adam isn’t
going to make everything perfect. But, and this is a big but, the ability to
bolus and eat on the move along with the priceless TBRs means I am very happy
with Adam’s permanent attachment to my body. I am hoping the next year shows
continued improved BG control and Adam maintains his high levels of
reliability.

6 comments:

Really good to hear your 1-year roundup. I've my own annual review early next week which should be interesting. The week since bloods were taken for A1c have been really good which is slightly ironic, but like you I'm still happy that I took the punge and joined the Dark Side :)

Disclaimer - please read!

I am not a medical professional in any way. Nothing on this site should be construed as medical advice. Your diabetes will vary. Contact your health care provider for specific questions and advice. Without sounding like a pharmaceutical company – do not change medication, dosage or philosophy without speaking to your DSN, doctor, consultant or witchdoctor.